Makes one reflect upon the leaders of our past who are remembered with the most affection and/or repsect. Reagon might be the most recent. Even though Reagan was a "movie star", his was that same kind of "normal".

08-22-2012, 10:33 AM

Buzz

From the article:

Quote:

​Ryan reeks of normal -- as our Founders intended those we elect to be. He is a good, old-fashioned American son. Remember them? The kind of real men the Ryan family built? He feels like one of us.

What he means is, he's white...

Quote:

Paul Ryan was simply poetic, campaigning over the weekend with his mother, Betty Douglas, among the same senior citizens whom Democrats claim Ryan and his Medicare reform would purge unmercifully via cliff-dropping. It was visual proof that at least some in the largely reliable senior voting block are not falling for the Obama Mediscare deception. Oh, and Paul Ryan really, really likes his mom.

I have been trying to find a single person currently on medicare who would be willing to trade in the medicare they currently have for a voucher. No takers yet.

No one under the age of 55 will be effected they say? Well, I'm 52. I have been paying into the system since I was 14, or for 38 years. When I can retire at 67, I will have paid in for 53. For half the years I've paid in, I have paid up to the max. And they have the guts to call it an entitlement, you know, so they can lump it in with medicaid and welfare. Screw their normal.

08-22-2012, 10:39 AM

gmhr1

So Obamas half white. He had his chance he has driven debt up 1.3 trillion dollars in the last 12 months 5.3 trillion since he took over. We will be in a recession by next year according to the budget office and see unemployment rise to 9.1 % (Oh he's done a great job.) Mrs Obama needs to take away his checkbook he doesn't know how to handle our money.
What happened to Obamas summer of recovery? Biden had the nerve to lie to us all by giving a speech saying the middle class is bouncing back. Medicare as it stands cannot survive and Obama doesn't have a clue.

08-22-2012, 12:18 PM

Gerry Clinchy

From the article:

​

Quote:

Ryan reeks of normal -- as our Founders intended those we elect to be. He is a good, old-fashioned American son. Remember them? The kind of real men the Ryan family built? He feels like one of us.

What he means is, he's white...
-----------
Aw, come on, Buzz ... I also consider Allen West "a good, old-fashioned American son." Would have said the same about Herman Cain until the stuff about the affair came out. And Jindal.

Medicare may be a good program, but when I read about how ineffectively they spend their funds, there has to be a better way. And if it's going to go bankrupt, it won't be there for you when you need it. The present Ryan plan offers "traditional Medicare" as an option to the vouchers.

I do think that they could raise the age that one MUST go into Medicare. Right now, even if your retirement age is 66 (or 67), you still MUST sign up for Medicare at age 65. If you don't sign up for it then, there will be a penalty later. My "penalty" for not signing up for prescription drug coverage at 65 (just an oversight) was 18% more when I signed up a year later. I do not take any prescription drugs. That penalty will apply to me forever.

And you could not do with Medicare only ... you'd still go bankrupt. Everyone I know has a supplemental plan ... sometimes provided by their former employer or union. Since I'm self-employed I pay for my own.

It was these post-retirement benefits (pension & health care) that caused a problem when companies began to lose money. Nobody wanted to buy the companies with the liabilities attached to those benefits. In many cases, the retirees took a reduction in benefits (locally it applied to Bethlehem Steel and Lucent Technologies) in order for their benefits to "survive".

So, if we don't fix Medicare in some way ... if/when govt revenue (taxes) becomes insufficient to sustain it, the same will happen to Medicare. Is a piece of pie better than none at all?

08-22-2012, 04:33 PM

Buzz

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gerry Clinchy

From the article:

-----------

Medicare may be a good program, but when I read about how ineffectively they spend their funds, there has to be a better way. And if it's going to go bankrupt, it won't be there for you when you need it. The present Ryan plan offers "traditional Medicare" as an option to the vouchers.

The problem with medicare is not the system, its the runaway inflation in the healthcare sector. If privatizing it can do a better job of controlling costs, how come medicare advantage ended up costing more than standard medicare?

So Romney/Ryan will save the program by killing it. They categorize savings to the system by cutting medicare advantage, and cuts in payments to hospitals that were negotiated with providers as cuts to medicare. So they are not serious, that's clear.

This I will tell you. When I lose my medicare, I have nothing to lose. Those 55 and over will not be safe with their coverage, because people like me who are a few years behind them will no longer support the program. I will fight to have it ended for everyone.

08-22-2012, 05:16 PM

luvmylabs23139

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buzz

For half the years I've paid in, I have paid up to the max.

Medicare witholding doesn't have a cap, only the ss part.
The 6.2 for SS caps although they raise the cap all the time.
the 1.45 for medicare just keeps on going and going like the energizer bunny!

08-22-2012, 07:46 PM

Gerry Clinchy

Quote:

because people like me who are a few years behind them will no longer support the program. I will fight to have it ended for everyone.

So, how come you are against Ryan's plan? You'd rather have it go bankrupt & leave those already in the system with nothing & no way to prepare for suddenly having the plan go bankrupt?

There was a thread a while back on how Medicare wastes its money on wheel chairs. Ever wonder why there are so many ads for the motorized chairs that cost people nothing out of pocket?

I'm a bit puzzled that you are in favor of raising income taxes on the rich, so they pay their "fair share" ... yet if someone suggests that there be no cap on SS (so that poor people will get more benefits than they pay for & richer people will get less benefits than they pay for) people get all upset. Isn't it the same thing? The rich giving a little more so that the poor get a little more?

08-22-2012, 08:03 PM

gmhr1

To bad we have all paid into medicare and it wont be there when you need it thanks to BO. All this guy knows how to do is spend, he's like a person that wins the lottery and in a year they are broke. Its fun spending other peoples money